Parents > Missing School

It is often difficult for parents to judge when a child's asthma symptoms are so bad that the child should not attend school. Here are some general guidelines to go by when deciding whether or not to keep your child home.

Your child should go to school when there is:

• Stuffy or runny nose – but no coughing or wheezing
• Some wheezing or coughing which goes away after taking medicine
• Able to do usual daily activities
• Breathing easily and normally

Your child should stay home when there is:

• Fever over 100 degrees
• Breathing with difficulty or faster than usual
• Weakness or tiredness
• A sore throat or swollen, painful neck glands
• Wheezing or coughing that continues or does not improve one hour after medicine
• Weakness or tiredness that makes it difficult to perform usual activities

You can help your child in these ways:

• Be sure your child takes asthma medication to school everyday.
• Always report to the school nurse when your child is absent due to asthma symptoms.
• Ask the teacher to help your child keep up with schoolwork. Too many missed school days can cause a child to suffer academically.

To tell if a child is affected by polluted air at school ask these questions:

• Does he regularly go to school healthy and return home sick or fatigued?
• Does he have more frequent or more severe asthma attacks on school days?
• What about other health problems, such as rashes, nausea, headaches, joint pain or congestion?
• Are any of his friends coming home with health complaints?
• Is school under renovation or seriously overcrowded?
• Was the school built in a wet area or on contaminated ground?
• Do the air intake vents draw in vehicle exhaust, or emissions from adjacent hazardous facilities?

If you suspect an air quality problem at school start keeping a log of how, when and where your child experiences poor health. Speak with the school adminstration, school nurse and your child's teacher.